How to make a news segment

This is absolutely brilliant, perfectly on pitch. The Daily What via Max Silvestri.

Really?

Really?

Reporter Todd Meany. Yeah.

Death Panel

Aside from being a funny name for a prescient agit-punk band, what amazes me about this whole death panel nonsense going around is that they are already in place! They're called YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY (if you're lucky enough to have one). I mean, at least a government-run death panel would have to have some semblance of fairness and regulation...

Best Photo Caption Ever

See related article.

This American Life Impresses Once Again

Do yourself a favor, sit down without distractions, and listen to this.

Episode 375: Bad Bank

The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. Our crack economics team—the guys who explained the mortgage crisis, Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson—are back to help all of us understand the news. For instance, when we talk about an insolvent bank, what does it actually mean, and why are we giving hundreds of billions of dollars to rich bankers who screwed up their own businesses? Also, two guys go to New Jersey to look at a toxic asset.

Other shows on the financial crisis: Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy. And you can get daily updates about the financial crisis on Alex and Adam's Planet Money podcast and blog.

These recent episodes of the Planet Money podcast go into more depth on the issues in this week's show:

2/9/09 Get Tougher Please—especially the interview with Adam Posen
2/27/09 He Nationalized a Bank
2/2/09 Japan's Lost Lesson

Simon Johnson, the former IMF official on this week's show, has a blog called BaselineScenario.com.

Also, on C-Span—Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner praises this episode.

---

Prologue.

Host Ira Glass plays clips from TV in a recent senate hearing and talks about how confusing the current banking crisis is. But fortunately today, we have the team that brought us our show that explained the mortgage crisis a year ago, back to explain entire the banking system in 40 minutes. (3 minutes)

Act One. The Collapse of the US Banking System Explained in Just 39 Minutes.

Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson tackle a very tough subject: trying to explain exactly what a bank is and does. They talk to a number of experts about what has gone wrong in banking, but not before bringing us all up to speed on some banking basics, like understanding a bank balance sheet, and a bank’s assets and liabilities, and the squishy business of what banks say about their balance sheets compared to what they are.

Alex and Adam walk us step by step through the complications of the US government buying up bad assets from banks, and explain why, when it comes to footing the bill, the government might just prefer to not be in charge of the very banks it is having taxpayers bailout. From a dollhouse, to a hypothetical bank worth tens of dollars, to the trillions of dollars being spent to keep banks afloat, Alex and Adam talk economy, and where we might be headed. (39 minutes)

Act Two. Clean Up Crew.

Not everyone hates the idea of “toxic assets.” Reporter Lisa Chow goes to New Jersey to follow two guys on their quest to clean up some of America’s bad mortgages—by buying them, and going straight to the homes themselves to have a look at how dire the situation really is. (13 minutes)

Song: "The House Song," Peter, Paul and Mary

CHAMBOR

I've been resistant to write about this story, feeling it doesn't really deserve as much attention as it is getting. But then, an inside source informed me that the plastic/plexi-glass box the cat was in was labeled "CHAMBOR." Poor Shadow. Man can't even spell the parts of his bong right. (For the record, that language is in the official Sheriff's report.)

And he's funny, too!

I have had the hots for Brian Williams for as long as I can remember. Swoon. The interview is the best part, but the references to Jon Stewart's earlier jokes make watching the entire episode worthwhile.

Technology can't possibly be educational!

Cornfed Gamer summarizes it better than I could, suffice it to say there are bigger fish our auditor ought to be frying...

Neal chimes in, too:

How's Your News?

I loved the This American Life piece on How's Your News that aired a couple years ago. Glad to see it's going to reach a large audience!

via The Daily Dish via Boing Boing:

Shepherded by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, this new MTV news series - yes, MTV, yes, news - is by and about disabled people. Timmy! A sneak preview via Boing Boing:



Creator Arthur Bradford:

We had a lot of fun shooting this series. Everywhere we went people would stare at the bus and come up and talk to us. For me, as the director, it was often exhausting and sometimes stressful, like when one of our reporters would have a seizure or shit their pants in the middle of shooting something important. Both of these things happened more than I'd like to recall. But it was overall a pretty magical experience and the fact this this show is now going to air on primetime and be available to so many households across America is something we should all rejoice in.

Amen.

One of the best headlines ever

McCain unsure how many houses he owns

via Politico

This one's for the calendar...

Every year, I get the Cat Lovers Against the Bomb calendar. It's a side arm of Nebraskans for Peace, and it's got 8"x10" photos of cats, cat-head-shaped moon phase icons, and important dates in both cat and peace history.

This story will almost definitely be in next year's calendar.

Not the cat in question, just from Flickr






Missing Cat Found in Owner's Suitcase

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 22, 2008

Filed at 11:38 p.m. ET

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- The last time cat-owner Kelly Levy saw her tiger-striped feline was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old came back to her house late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie Mae would usually be waiting, empty.

Levy tore the house apart looking for the 10-month-old tabby who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with ''lost cat'' signs.

Then she got a phone call.

''Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out,'' Levy recalled the caller saying.

Gracie Mae had crawled into Seth Levy's black suitcase undetected, been put through an X-ray machine, loaded onto an airplane, thrown onto a baggage claim conveyor belt and picked up by a stranger.

The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket Sunday night.

------

Information from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com